When Texas fashion designer Pat Dahnk was first starting out, she sewed on an old machine that started to skip a stitch. That’s when her creativity and determination kicked in. She began to cut out little leather leaves to stitch over the seams of the collars, and this design element became her signature.

Faced with an obstacle, her determination and creativity helped her overcome it. That’s really the story of her life—from small glitches on a sewing machine to the devastating loss of her son. When cancer claimed her 2-year-old, Kent, in 1985, Dahnke pushed through grief by focusing on what meant the most to her—her daughter, Tara, just 8 years old at the time, a love of horses and an ability to help women feel beautiful.